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Forbes
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Steinberg Playwright Awards: Celebrating Writers Illuminating The Future Of American Theater
From left: Mfoniso Udofia and Christina Anderson 'What do you do for joy?' Mfoniso Udofia was a student at Wellesley College, firmly convinced she was on the lawyer track, when an insightful dean posed that simple, yet enlightening, question. And Udofia's universe shifted in a colossal way. 'That question changed everything,' says the playwright whose plays like Sojourners, runboyrun, Her Portmanteau and In Old Age have been developed and performed throughout the United States. 'I believe the subtext was: What if the thing that brings you joy could also be your career?' She started singing, then acting, then writing. 'Just saying 'yes' to what felt right,' says Udofia. Although the seed was planted, it still took time to discover she had to be an artist. 'Even after writing my first play, the Grove, I didn't fully claim the title of 'writer,' says Udofia who graduated in 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, and was terrified of not going to law school nor choosing a 'traditional' career, especially when she had no money nor idea how to make this life work. 'It took years. I was doing the work long before I ever let myself say, I'm a writer. The realization wasn't a lightning bolt—it was a slow burn.' While Udofia's entry into playwriting was 'a slow burn,' her artistry caught fire. A first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator, her plays have been seen at New York Theatre Workshop, American Conservatory Theater, Playwrights Realm, Magic Theater, National Black Theatre, The Huntington, Round House Theatre, Strand Theater, and Boston Court. She has written for the shows 13 Reasons Why, A League of Their Own, Pachinko, Little America and Lessons in Chemistry. She has also developed films for HBO, Legendary, and Amazon. Most recently, Udofia—along with acclaimed playwright Christina Anderson—received the 2024 Steinberg Playwright Award. Presented by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, each year the 'Mimi' Awards are given to early and mid-career playwrights with compelling voices who display artistic excellence and illuminate American theater. Devoted to nurturing playwrights, the trust has given over $100 million to theater organizations, with a particular focus on new play commissions, development, and production. 'The Steinberg Trust is dedicated to shining a light on distinctive and powerful voices, and to investing in the future of American playwriting,' said Steinberg trustee Carole Krumland who went on to add that Anderson and Udofia are 'two brilliant playwrights whose transcendent and transformative work will continue to inspire and inform the future of this art form.' For Anderson, a prolific playwright whose work has been performed at The Acting Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Geva Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Baltimore Center Stage, Kansas City Repertory Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre, the award has been seismic. 'In these uncertain times, the Steinberg Playwright Award is a life-changing gift of freedom and artistic stillness to create and dream,' said Anderson. In addition to writing plays like the Ripple, the Wave That Carried Me Home, How to Catch Creation, Man in Love, Good Goods, the Ashes Under Gait City, Hollow Roots, Blacktop Sky, and pen/man/ship, Anderson is also a gifted TV writer and screenwriter who produces hip hop instrumentals. And now, more than ever, the 'Mimi' Awards seem particularly vital. Especially when it's harder to be an artist. 'These awards ensure that those who document our humanity—who help us make sense of it, who remind us, and call us to our greater selves—can afford to keep doing so,' says Mfoniso. 'Security and certainty are rarely reliable, but those elements feel especially tenuous now,' shares Anderson. 'This award is a stable force that helps an artist stay the course.' As Mfoniso observes, the world needs storytellers. 'Theater artists hold a mirror to the world, especially in the most topsy-turvy of times. And we are in the midst of some of the strangest—and potentially most dangerous—moments in history,' she says. 'As certain sectors of our community struggle to negotiate what 'the truth' actually is, as cruelty becomes the currency du jour, and as portions of society willfully forget that our humanity is something to be tendered and cultivated—instead of nurturing empathy, a skill and ultimate goal, not a weakness—artists become both the memory and the chroniclers of pathways forward.' Jeryl Brunner: Can you share when you got word that you won the Mimi Steinberg award? Mfoniso Udofia: I was actually out of the country with my partner and some friends when I got the email. It was from Deb [Deborah] Martin, who introduced herself as the Administrative Director of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Trust, asking if I had five to ten minutes to talk. My stomach dropped—in the best way—because you don't get emails like that unless they're really good. My partner saw my face as we stood in this overseas clothing store, and I just froze. I was cycling through every emotion—excitement, overwhelm, absolute joy—while also trying to steady myself. But I replied immediately because, yes, I had 5–10 minutes. In fact, I had 30. I had an hour. I had the whole that day, Deb and I got on the phone, and she told me the news. After I hung up, I screamed, fully leaning into the moment and letting the feeling take over. Christina Anderson: When I received the call, I thought it was an invitation to be on the selection panel—which I was super excited to say yes to. It never occurred to me that I may have won anything. Deborah was like, 'the panel has already convened, and they've selected you!' I stood in my living room, speechless. Brunner: How will this award help you continue to be an artist? Anderson: It provides the breathing room to explore dream projects. I've already written a play that I don't think I would've written before receiving this award. I've carried the idea for almost ten years. But there's always this quiet pressure to write something marketable and fairly accessible. So, I'd gravitate towards other ideas in that lane. But this most recent play is a true passion project. This award ushers in what I hope to be a new phase in my writing. Udofia: Theater—God bless it—is my heart, but it does not always pay well. I'm currently mounting all nine plays of my Ufot Cycle in the Boston area over the next two years. It's a huge undertaking, and I feel incredibly blessed to have productions happening. But practically speaking? This money will help me sustain. It gives me breathing room to focus on the work. Brunner: What is some of the best writing advice you have received? Anderson: Paula Vogel told me, 'Be your own adjective.' It's maverick speak, and I love it. It's just an awesome piece of advice because there's freedom in it and power and strength. A Christina Anderson play is its own adventure. It's inspired by the things that inspires me. I define what's lifted up. Who's lifted up. My theatrical sensibility is filled with curiosity, poetry, possibility, and I try to instill that vision into each play I write. That sensibility also nourishes me to write the next one, and the next one, and the next. Brunner: Mfoniso, in the New York Times, you said that you are determined to show the nuances of African immigrant experiences—'that the continent isn't tragic, and its people aren't broken.' Can you share more? Udofia: I often teach from Binyavanga Wainaina's How to Write About Africa, a satirical takedown of how the continent is often depicted in literature. The first time I read it, I laughed—and then realized I was bleeding. Because so much of what I had seen followed that same tired script. I'm not afraid to write about pain—several of my plays tackle difficult themes—but I'm also invested in joy. In laughter. In eros, when sparks fly between two people and a whole new world begins. In healing, when trauma doesn't remain the defining factor in a character's life. I'm drawn to the African everyman—the Nigerian immigrant whose struggles, triumphs, and everyday moments are deeply human. The nuances might be different, but the core of the story? It's something we all recognize. Brunner: Christina, can you talk more about the book you are working on that explores playwriting as an accessible artistic life practice? Anderson: Being a Black woman writing the type of plays that I write, it's been a tricky journey navigating people's assumptions and expectations of how my stories should move and breathe on stage. I'm definitely not inventing the wheel, but I am stretching my ideas about how to move a story forward, how to capture and manipulate time on stage, how do we explore an immense history in an intimate theatrical setting. I braid the speculative and evidential into the lives of my characters to hopefully ignite conversation at a molecular level, a nuance level. And I'm also really committed to telling a good story. Can we see ourselves and see the world in these plays, on this stage. My plays, my playwriting practice is my activism that has made me a lifelong scholar. I'm writing a book that will explore this way of writing and, again, hopefully, encourages others to consider writing plays for their communities, their families, their circles, themselves.
Boston Globe
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Unpacking family baggage in Udofia's ‘Her Portmanteau' at Central Square Theater
Advertisement But compression does not equal contraction when a playwright is possessed of a vision as rich as Udofia's. The past lives vividly in 'Her Portmanteau,' as Udofia examines how choices made and actions taken, or untaken, have a way of reverberating down the years. A certain slackness creeps in a couple of times, but not enough to put a dent in the overall excellence of the coproduction by Central Square Theater and the Black-led Front Porch Arts Collective. Lorraine Victoria Kanyike and Patrice Jean-Baptiste in "Her Portmanteau." Maggie Hall Photography Directed by Tasia A. Jones, 'Her Portmanteau' features a flat-out wonderful cast of three: Patrice Jean-Baptiste as sixty-something matriarch Abasiama Ufot, facing hard questions from the daughter who was raised in Nigeria by Abasiama's former husband; Jade A. Guerra as that daughter, Iniabasi Ekpeyong, 36, whose own portmanteau is stuffed with emotional baggage; and Lorraine Victoria Kanyike as the dutiful Adiaha Ufot, 30, who tries to play peacemaker in the charged exchanges between Iniabasi and Abasiama. (Adiaha calls Abasiama 'Mommy.' Iniabasi emphatically does not.) Advertisement 'Her Portmanteau' concerns itself with matters of language and culture and legacy, and, writ large, the immigrant experience. But there's nothing generic about Udofia's characters. She has taken pains to craft individualized portraits of members of the Ufot family in all their complexity and, especially in Abasiama's case, contradiction. Udofia deploys silence in 'Her Portmanteau' to a much greater degree than in the first three plays. Guerra's Iniabasi says nothing for a long period after she arrives at the apartment, virtually chilling the air. When she does speak, it is to throw barbs at her mother, criticizing the ingredients she uses in meals, and, most damningly, describing Abasiama as to her face as a woman 'who can't even speak her real language. Yawping at me in English!' Udofia, who grew up in Southbridge, Mass., and attended Wellesley College, is an actor as well as a playwright. Indeed, she played Abasiama in ' Chunks of that dialogue are rendered in the Ibibio language, sometimes with subtitles that provide English translations, sometimes not. That approach is effective in terms of keeping both sides of the family's heritage on an equal footing, but it will likely make some members of the audience wondering what they've missed. This one did. Advertisement When it comes to the overpowering ending of 'Her Portmanteau,' though, no words are needed. HER PORTMANTEAU Play by Mfoniso Udofia. Directed by Tasia A. Jones. Coproduction by Central Square Theater and Front Porch Arts Collective. At Central Square Theater, Cambridge. Through April 20. Tickets $25 to $96. , or 617-576-9278 x1 Don Aucoin can be reached at
Boston Globe
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A family haunted by history in Udofia's ‘runboyrun'
The actors were ranged horizontally across the stage, facing the audience at the Huntington Theatre, with scripts on music stands in front of them. Director Christopher V. Edwards sat onstage to the left of the actors as, in a measured voice, he narrated the overarching elements of the narrative and recited Udofia's stage directions. The format was distracting at first, but the lack of a full staging ended up mattering less than expected. The cast's all-out performances gave 'runboyrun' a steadily accumulating power, along with Udofia's script. Advertisement What a gifted writer she is, possessed of the ability and discipline to delve into the mysteries of human behavior while mining a vein of lyricism, even poetry. The Ufot Family Cycle is a project of considerable scope: More than 35 arts organizations will be involved in productions of the plays in the next two years. Loretta Greco, who is now artistic director at The Huntington, produced the world premiere of 'runboyrun' in 2016 at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. Three years later, Greco directed a production of the play at New York Theatre Workshop. The play dramatizes the lasting effects of wartime trauma as it moves back and forth in time between Worcester, Massachusetts, in 2012, and Nigeria in 1968, when it's convulsed by civil war. You couldn't help but think of Ukraine, of Israel, of Gaza, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, of the immense suffering war has caused in so many times and places, of what one character in 'runboyrun' calls 'the broken pieces of the world.' Advertisement The play begins in 1968 in Nigeria, where a woman identified as Sister (the vibrantly alive and altogether astonishing Abigail C. Onwunali, building further on her remarkable performances in ' The war, which is in its second year when the play takes place, had erupted when the state of Biafra, mainly inhabited by the Igbo people, declared independence from Nigeria. Boy seldom speaks, but Osuala communicates the character's fear and grief by repeatedly tapping her chest – a gesture that just breaks your heart. (Later, we're also introduced to Mother, portrayed by Ngozi Anyanwu, and her first-born son, Benjamin, played by Tosin Morohunfola.) Tosin Morohunfola and Ngozi Anyanwu in "runboyrun." Annielly Camargo Then the action shifts to Worcester in 2012, where the marriage between Abasiama (played by Udofia) and Disciple (Chike Johnson), both Nigerian immigrants, is on the verge of collapse. Abasiama senses that Disciple has told her only a portion of the story of his life, and sees that as undercutting their chance at true intimacy. Unbeknownst to him, Abasiama is applying for a job as a researcher at a university. Disciple, meanwhile, is a welter of insecurities. Even though his contract to teach African history at another college has been renewed, he is humiliated by student complaints about what they claim is his odor. Beyond that, he's in a state of high agitation, fretting about a door that mysteriously opened and a computer that went on the fritz, and also by the sensation that something is on his leg. Abasiama is clearly exhausted by him, but Disciple insists: 'There is an energy. Something lives in here with us. Has been living here.' Advertisement Udofia's presence in the cast was a fascinating aspect of 'runboyrun' on Friday night. How often do you get to see a playwright performing in her own work, interacting with the characters she created and speaking the dialogue she wrote? It turns out that, along with everything else, Udofia is quite a fine actor. And from the way the past flows in and around the present in 'runboyrun,' she clearly understands that remembrance is not optional. It's an obligation. Or, as Disciple puts it: 'I have not forgotten. And even if I try to forget? Even if I try to forget, it is in the blood.' RUNBOYRUN Play by Mfoniso Udofia. Adapted for audio play by Catherine Eaton. Directed by Christopher V. Edwards. Produced as an audio play adaptation by The Huntington and Next Chapter Podcasts in partnership with GBH and Boston Public Library. Review of performance on March 14 at the Huntington Theatre. Don Aucoin can be reached at
CBS News
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Nigerian-American playwright Mfoniso Udofia tackles personal questions in "The Grove"
Mfoniso Udofia is a local playwright who grew up in Southbridge, Massachusetts, but her family immigrated to America from Nigeria. As a queer Nigerian, she was assimilating herself to both America and her own culture. Her background lays the groundwork for her most recent play called "The Grove." It's play two of a nine-play cycle that follows generations of Ufot family over the course of 100 years. It spans from 1978 to 2078. In "The Grove", the main protagonist is also queer and Nigerian. Their family came to America and moved to Worcester. "This play is tackling questions that I had in my life, which is why it is going to feel so personal, but nothing that is happening on this stage actually happened in real life. The questions though are burning for me," said Udofia. Udofia went to Wellesley College to become a lawyer, but instead fell in love with acting and playwrighting after a classmate asked her one simple question. Does this give you joy in life? "The answer was, 'No,' so I started exploring," said Udofia. Ufot Family Cycle While the Ufot Family Cycle of plays consists of nine stories, each is meant to stand on its own, meaning you don't need to see them from the start. "If you see them all together you will get an even bigger story on the cost of building inside of this country," explains Udofia. "Each play is going to tackle a specific question inside that African dreaming that Nigerian dreaming for me." Her hope is that the audience comes away with a great perspective about our neighbors. "I hope that they leave with an understanding that there are so many different kinds of people that are out there, and maybe living in the houses next to them," said Udofia. "I do think the plays are asking us how we love, and are we doing the best we can in those love scenarios, or can we do better?" Adjusting to new culture She says growing up as a Nigerian in America can be difficult because Nigerian culture focuses on the "we," while American culture focuses on the "I." She says it can be hard to figure out what makes you unique or special, when you have always focused on the collective of the people around you. "What does it mean to self-individuate when you're from a collectivist culture?" said Udofia. "The Grove" is the second of the nine plays to hit the stage, and it comes during Black History Month. It's a time she says she celebrates every day. "I live in this body every single day, and I celebrate inside this body every single day, and for me it is a joy to be Black, Nigerian and the woman that I am. Every single day and that is a joy, that is a rebellion and that is a celebration," said Udofia. "Know that March is my Black History Month, and May, and June, so is July, because it is a beautiful thing to hold this identity."
Boston Globe
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘The Grove' expands the Ufot Family Cycle with a story both humane and moving
Advertisement Whether their role is large or small, the 13-member cast is aces, across the board. Aided by her design team, Timpo constructs an atmosphere that amounts to a kind of visual poetry, lending the play the quality of myth. (Timpo also helmed The Huntington's entrancing 2022 production of Set in 2009, 'The Grove' is focused on Adiaha, an ambitious young writer played by Abigail C. Onwunali, who nearly sets the Wimberly Theatre stage on fire with her impassioned performance. The play alternates between Adiaha's parents' home in Worcester, Mass., and the apartment in the Inwood section of New York City that she shares with her girlfriend, Kimberly Gaines (Valyn Lyric Turner), an artist. (Udofia, who grew up in Southbridge, Mass. about 25 miles from Worcester and attended Wellesley College, has dedicated her play to 'the young woman I once was.') Adiaha is trying to summon the courage to talk with her deeply traditional parents, Abasiama (Patrice Johnson Chevannes) and Disciple (Joshua Olumide) about the fact that she is gay. It's clear that that would be an explosive conversation. Of course, group portraits of a family coming apart at the seams are a staple of the theater: the Lomans, the Tyrones, the Youngers, the Wingfields – hell, all the way back to the House of Atreus. What matters is whether the playwright can deliver vividly individualized portraits within that larger picture. Advertisement Udofia can, and does. Though father Disciple is a volatile, dogmatic, and narrowly religious guy who seldom communicates at a volume lower than a shout, 'The Grove' is not built around the tired binary of lovable victim and hissable villain. That path would be too easy and simplistic for a playwright of Udofia's skill. Abigail C. Onwunali and Patrice Johnson Chevannes in "The Grove." Marc J. Franklin Adiaha has profound respect for her Nigerian heritage, which adds tension to the question of whether she will be forced to choose between living with authenticity or maintaining the loving bond she has with her parents. From start to lump-in-the-throat finish, Onwunali makes us feel the weight of that choice. (Last November, when Dawn M. Simmons directed In a captivating touch that underscores the family's connection to its history, five 'Shadows' (Ekemini Ekpo, Janelle Grace, Patrice Jean-Baptiste, Chibuba Bloom Osuala, and Dayenne Walters) dressed in traditional garb and representing the family's ancestors, circle the action of 'The Grove,'' speaking and singing in Ibibio, the language spoken by the Ibibio people of Nigeria. As Udosen, described by the playwright as Adiaha's 'fun uncle,' Paul-Robert Pryce is a font of ebullience and charisma in every scene he's in — very entertaining to watch. The play loses some steam in the scenes where Adiaha and Kim thrash out the issues in their relationship. 'The Grove' would benefit from some judicious trims there. But the bickering between the two young women can also be seen as part of Udofia's dramatic rigor and intellectual honesty. What Adiaha wants is to live a true life, which means an imperfect life. Advertisement 'Sojourners' was on The response from the audience in the Wimberly Theatre Wednesday night was among the most fervent I've ever seen. Yes, the crowd doubtless included plenty of family and friends of the cast and the creative team, given that it was the show's official opening night. But the burst of joy as they leaped to their feet at the end of the performance seemed utterly spontaneous. In any case, it was, without question, utterly warranted. THE GROVE Play by Mfoniso Udofia. Directed by Awoye Timpo. Presented by The Huntington at Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. Through March 9. Tickets start at $29. 617-266-0800, Don Aucoin can be reached at
